BaristaBoy E61 wrote:


Great tool. Mine's still in its original box - unopened 5-plus years later!

"Great tool" yet unopened? Please explain...

Seems like a great tool, that's why I bought it when I first bought our espresso set up. I have yet to find that I have a real need for it though. So it's still in its original box, stilled sealed from the factory, never opened never used.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't want to part with it - You just never know...

Looks like we other interests in common.

When I look at any of the photos of setups in peoples homes, I think two things:
1 - They must be very proud of their gear and the choices they have made, and,
2 - I wonder, how many hours did it take to get it all so clean for the photos?

But I make a 'home brew Windex' we call "WinDox" (the recipe is all over the Internet). It is cheap to make and has no blue coloring in it. I most often use use Sparkle Glass Cleaner. Miocrofiber rags are a must. A small vacuum cleaner or a soft bristle brush for sweeping groungs as well.

Proud? Of course! Most prosumer machines are works of art IMO.

I don't find keeping clean really takes much effort in a home environment. I'm rarely rushed and only making a few drinks a day, so easy to tidy up after.

slybarman wrote:I don't find keeping clean really takes much effort in a home environment. I'm rarely rushed and only making a few drinks a day, so easy to tidy up after.

Me too! Having a well defined routine makes it easy. Mine's simple enough - after every shot, I rinse the basket and wipe the screen & gasket, so I'm ready to "close the bar" when the drinking is done. This takes me all of about 2 minutes.

The basket comes out of the PF for a rinse under hot water, during which I brush the screen & gasket area with a Pallo. Then I put in a cheap PF with a blind basket for a wiggle or two and an immediate water back flush (5 cycles, to be complete). I wet the center of a clean microfiber cloth with hot water from the wand and wipe the machine down with it (which takes about 30 seconds). I double check the steam wand, which is already clean because I wipe well with a hot wet cloth immediately after each use. Then I dump, rinse & dry the drip tray. The last machine touch is to dry the bottom and exposed frame under the tray. Finally, I brush the grinder & counter before wiping it.

More than this would be too much for me, but less would be too little.

Usually one cloth but sometimes two. They get changed out weekly. The counter gets wiped/brushed every day. Clean water back flushes every day and the machine gets a warm water wipedown about every two weeks. It drives me crazy when it looks gross but with three kids running around, it sometimes gets neglected haha.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote:
Seems like a great tool, that's why I bought it when I first bought our espresso set up. I have yet to find that I have a real need for it though. So it's still in its original box, stilled sealed from the factory, never opened never used.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't want to part with it - You just never know...

Looks like we other interests in common.

If you decide to sell it let me know...

Randy G. wrote:When I look at any of the photos of setups in peoples homes, I think two things:
1 - They must be very proud of their gear and the choices they have made, and,
2 - I wonder, how many hours did it take to get it all so clean for the photos?

But I make a 'home brew Windex' we call "WinDox" (the recipe is all over the Internet). It is cheap to make and has no blue coloring in it. I most often use use Sparkle Glass Cleaner. Miocrofiber rags are a must. A small vacuum cleaner or a soft bristle brush for sweeping groungs as well.

Thanks Randy G. So many gorgeous espresso machines and proud owners. The hand polished stainless steel on my Quick Mill is actually pretty easy to keep shinny with nothing more than a damp microfibre cloth.

My machine sits on a stainless table as does my roaster. Only use water and microfiber to clean. My microfiber have a white tag on one end, and I always use the other end for the steam wand, and the the tag end for other purposes.

I use a variety of brushes to remove ground coffee from the area. Some are soft bristled and some more firm (see image). They are all small except for one that's about 4" with its own mini dust pan. OXO I think on that one (not shown). I don't mind a few grounds sitting around for a few days but then the build up gets to me and so I usually clean while I am dosing my jars. What does get full of ground coffee are the three little holders I have for my funnel, distribution tool and tamper. I usually just knock the grinds into the trash and wipe with a cloth.

Two things that I do that may not be the norm here is I cover my stiff bristle brush with a clean cloth and run it around the silicon group gasket. I do this once a day or so.

Second thing I do as needed, is I take my baskets, put in a very small amount of espresso machine cleaner, and set them inside a vibrating jewelry cleaner with hot water, and let it run for 60 - 120 seconds. This practice is irregular and is usually done when my I see that my baskets are irregular in where they saturate. Seems to work every time. Haven't noticed any negative impact on the baskets.

I don't care much about the knock box. I clean it every few days as I dump it.